These Waking Moments
by Jimelda
Summary: A collection of Claire and Aaron drabbles. Chapter 9: "She's cautious – the way she learned to be."
1. Jealousy Rears Its Ugly Head

**Title: **Jealousy Rears Its Ugly Head  
**Prompt: **#17/ _missing time  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Claire struggles to adjust to normal life.  
**Spoilers: **Post 6.17, 18 – _The End  
_**A/N: **I kept wanting to write something about the Claire from season 6, both her time on and off the Island, so I finally scribbled this down. Hopefully more drabbles will follow soon. Some prompts credited to _64damn_prompts _on livejournal.

* * *

The staccato ticking of the clock, like a knife being sharpened, forces her into the mindset of survival. (_She refuses to think of who died at her hands from that very weapon._)

Yet here she is chopping up vegetables for tonight's dinner – the silver edge much sharper than anything she plunged into someone's chest – while her son (_she has trouble thinking of him as _hers_, having missed most of his childhood_) dashes down the hall, playing some hide-and-go-seek game with Kate.

The brunette rushes into the kitchen, breathless; stopping short at her expression.

"Oh Honey," she says sympathetically, not seeing Claire's white-knuckled grasp tighten around the blade handle.


	2. The Thrill Of The Flame

**Title: **The Thrill Of The Flame  
**Prompt: **#16/ _rip  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Claire finds a way to numb the pain.  
**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews.

* * *

She watches drops of crimson trickle down her arm with fascination; they hit the ground beneath her like the tears she refuses to shed. The dull blade is wiped along her mud-caked jeans before she presses it against her skin one more time, while wondering idly if the cut will become infected.

(_Such a trivial concern now_.)

A new line traces across her previously unscarred flesh. She draws in a sharp breath (_the pain all she can feel these days_) before absently wiping away the blood, smiling as it seeps into the plaid fabric of her shirt. The same way she feels darkness quietly seeping into her heart.


	3. Separated By A River Of Time

**Title: **Separated By A River Of Time  
**Prompt: **#64/ _hold  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Aaron is finally reunited with his mother.

* * *

She sees him hiding behind his grandmother and is overcome by emotion. Not because she's missed him (_which, in itself, is an understatement_), but because he cannot possibly be her child. Where is the baby she used to swaddle and feed? The infant who would awaken her in night, crying as he, like the others, sensed evil growing in the nearby darkness?

Years have gone by (_crawled by, in her eyes_); she's missed each new discovery, first word, first step, and call for a mother. She's not ready for this.

Her insecurities fade away at the sight of his clear blue eyes, unchanged, as if she's never left.


	4. Haunted By The Silence Of Yesterday

**Title: **Haunted By The Silence Of Yesterday  
**Prompt: **#32/ _linger  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Aaron knows the truth.  
**Spoilers: **4.10 – _Something Nice Back Home  
_**A/N: **This isn't strictly a Claire-related drabble, but it does involve her (or at least the memory of her) somewhat.

* * *

_Who in the world am I?_

The phrase lingers in his head long after Jack has left (_he pretended to be asleep_), beating against the inside of his skull; an insect attracted to light. Dying to break free.

He finally drifts off to sleep, dreams haunted by never-ending jungle landscapes and the smell of anger mixing with the bitterness of salt on the breeze. He starts awake at dawn to a bubbling in his throat; words trying to rip themselves out of his mouth. _I don't belong here_.

He presses his lips tightly together, fighting to keep the truth (_he knows it is_) locked deep within his chest.


	5. Catch Me When I'm Falling

**Title: **Catch Me When I'm Falling  
**Prompt: **#52/ _below  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Claire's old nightmares revisit her.  
**Spoilers: **6.17, 18 – _The End_

_

* * *

_

Relishing the touch of the sun warming her eyelids, she keeps one ear trained on the splashing noises; drifts into a semi-unconscious state. Imagines lying on the beach; towel underneath, sand only inches away.

She notices immediately when silence falls over the backyard. Jolting awake, she's beside the pool in record time. Her scream catapulting her into reality; blank face staring at her below the ripples (_the same one haunting her nightmares_).

Pulling her little boy from the water, body still, she presses against his chest desperately while guitar music flows from a neighbouring window; not about to lose the only one she has left. Not this time.


	6. A Brush Of Life Tinged With Death

**Title: **A Brush Of Life Tinged With Death  
**Prompt: **#31/ _correspondence  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Aaron and Clementine throw a party.  
**Spoilers: **6.17, 18 – _The End_  
**A/N: **I have decided to include specifc Aaron-related moments in this collection of drabbles as well.

* * *

She's out to dinner when the call comes, sending her racing down the road slow enough to be legal; knowing what's awaiting. First glances would assume the place deserted, if not for the flashing red and blue.

Inside, Aaron and Clementine stand in a near-spotless room (_empty but for the stereo_), surrounded; un-abashed. She bids the men farewell, meeting the wary expressions of her past. Words ring in silence left behind. _Disruption of peace. Complaints._

"They like the music loud, Aunt Kate," he explains before she can ask.

"Who, Goober?" the familiar name slipping out even after fifteen years.

Clementine's innocent grin morphing into a smirk. "The ghosts."


	7. Maybe This Time

**Title: **Maybe This Time  
**Prompt: **#33/ _charm  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Aaron and Clementine share a moment.  
**Spoilers: **5.11 – _Whatever Happened, Happened  
_**A/N: **Title from _Maybe This Time_, the Glee version.

* * *

He's five, she's eight (_always older, more experienced_), hiding beneath blankets. Her idea – he still thinks girls have cooties – their lips brush against one another; tentativeness transforming strangely into pleasure.

Once he begins to enjoy it (_his first kiss, maybe not hers_), she slaps him away; building up walls that didn't exist before. He never did like isolation, already too much at home.

Her eyes reflect pain of infinite unshed tears, hidden behind anger, fueled by lies. She's gone before he dares to blink, wailing as she trips downstairs.

"Mommy, Aaron tried to kiss me!"

In the kitchen, Cassidy and Kate share a look. _She's like her father._


	8. Misfits In An Unjust World

**Title: **Misfits In An Unjust World  
**Prompt: **#9 - _connection  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Aaron is raised on the run.  
**Spoilers: **Post-4.10 – _Something Nice Back Home_

* * *

She waits a week before strapping him to his car-seat and running. He grows up in strings of backseats and motels, grabbing cash whenever he can before they leave again; never letting himself get too attached. He learned from the best.

Ten years to the day she finally loses herself in the pain; taking comfort in the cures _he_ taught her. The name Wayne whispered between alcohol-loosened lips on one-too-many a bender. He never learns what it means before she is gone. The entire world open to him, he returns to the only place he can call _home_. Clem is waiting (_alone_); the only constant he's ever had.


	9. To Catch A Falling Star

**Title: **To Catch A Falling Star  
**Prompt: **#6/ _seize the day  
_**Words: **108  
**Summary: **Aaron and Clementine take off.  
**A/N: **A sequel to Misfits In An Unjust World.

* * *

They drive. With a full tank of gas they drive until yesterday, today and tomorrow ride the same skyline. Until they forget where they came from and don't care where they're going.

They make love in the backseat, feeding each other's insatiable lust; eyes dark as the empty skies overhead. The gas runs out and they continue on foot along unpaved shoulders of endless roads. (_Paths not taken_.)

She's cautious – the way she learned to be. He's impulsive; preconceived notions never fading away.

"I wanna find him," she tells. "My father." He imagines tousled hair and southern accents. Sanded beaches and restless jungles.

"I know where to start."


End file.
